Tagged: Jeanmar Gomez

The Phillies swept the Rockies yesterday, collecting their 4th straight win and prompting “Wild Card” talk around town (Don’t hold your breath though…the Dodgers are up next). The day started out on a positive note. Placido Polanco signed with the team for the day so he could retire and then threw out the game’s first pitch. Later, fellow alumni Randy Wolf helped the Phanatic shoot hot dogs at the fans.

Once the game began, the intense heat appeared to be baking player brains. It was a sloppy affair, for sure. Odubel Hererra gave a clinic on how not to catch a baseball:

Cesar Hernandez missed an easy tag in the 3rd, which led to a run for the Rockies. And Adam Morgan, recently called back up due to an injury to Zac Eflin, was not terribly sharp. He racked up a high pitch count early and then managed to get whacked in the arm with a line drive. Morgan exited after only 3 innings and then Severino Gonzalez took over. Gonzalez immediately balked runners into scoring position (*sigh*).

But the Rockies had their share of heat-induced blunders as well, which the Phillies took advantage of. And Hererra made up for his earlier gaff with a home run saving catch later in the game.

The offense scored in every inning from the 2nd to the 6th, which was nice to see. Also very nice to see was some Ryan Howard hustle around the bases. He seems to have new life suddenly.

Buy the big bangs of the day came from an unexpected source, Jimmy Paredes. He went 3 for 4 with 3 RBI and raised his average from below .200 to .226 in one game.

The 9th inning, however, was quite an adventure. Jeanmar Gomez gave up 2 hits, 2 walks and 2 runs making it a very close game at 7-6. Luckily, he got out alive and the Phillies held on for the win. We will chalk that up to the heat as well.

With a 7-2 win today, the Phillies collected the series win against the defending World Champion Royals. The fun began even before the game started as the Phanatic tormented Royals player Salvador Pérez by dumping a bucket of confetti on him. Perez tried to fight back by tossing water, but the Phanatic used a small child as a human shield to avoid the soaking. Eventually, Perez stole the Phanatic’s car keys and then they made up.

More excitement ensued in the first inning when, after only 5 pitches, the manager, pitching coach, team trainer and half the team made a visit to the pitching mound to check on starter Vince Velasquez. His velocity was down around 85-90mph, which triggered panic, especially since Velasquez is fresh off an injury. But Velasquez pitched well, despite the slow down of his fastball. He went 6 innings and allowed only 2 runs.

In the bottom of the 1st, Cameron Rupp kick-started the offense with a 3-run homer. The Phillies went on to score 7 runs on 3 homers and 11 total hits. Cody Asche and Maikel Franco also hit long balls.

Asche also shattered his bat during another plate appearance, sending Royals scrambling for cover. Luckily, no one was hurt.

The bullpen was able to hold down the lead after Velasquez left the game. Edubray Ramos, Hector Neris and Jeanmar Gomez finished out the game strong with little drama.

So after a very bad month-long stretch where seemingly nothing went right, it looks like the Phillies are finally back on track. Here is the fullPhoto Album from the game.

The Phillies begin a series tomorrow against the Braves at 4:05pm. Happy Independence Day, everyone!

The Phillies took a 2 – 1 lead into the 8th inning against the Reds yesterday in their first game of the season. And then, the wheels fell off. Much criticism has been heaped onto the Phillies bullpen this offseason. While most of the team looks promising, this is going to be a sore spot.

Of course, the rest of the team was not setting the world on fire, either. With only 6 hits in the game, including a 2-run Freddy Galvis homer, the Phillies offense was mostly silent. And the defense started off badly with a huge error from veteran Ryan Howard in the 1st inning which led to an early run for the Reds. Howard also did not have a hit in the game and left 3 men on base.

But while Howard should be elected to the Opening Day Wall of Shame, he was beat out by David Hernandez for the title. Hernandez allowed 3 runs in the 8th inning on a hit and 2 walks, sinking the Phillies ship for good. He did not record a single out. James Russell was not much better, allowing 2 more runs. In all, the bullpen 8th inning follies ended in a 6 – 2 win for the Reds.

The real shame of this is that Jeremy Hellickson pitched a heck of a game. I am still not sure why he was pulled after only 6 innings and 70 pitches. Manager Pete Mackanin could have let him go one more inning and put Jeanmar Gomez in for the 8th inning. The 9th inning may still have been a mess, but at least with only 3 outs left, he would have had more wiggle room to mix and match pitchers. But that is only my humble opinion.

The Phillies are off today and will try again on Wednesday; game time is 7:10pm and Aaron Nola will pitch.